COPS WANT
GUNS, NOT
DRUG, MENTAL
TESTING
At the urging of the Eugene Police
Department, the city is lobbying against
drug and mental health testing for officers,
but for an expensive, armed UO police
force.
The city of Eugene has given its top
priority to lobbying against a bill that would
require steroid and drug testing for police
officers involved in shootings, require
mental health evaluations for police officers
and require that the incidents be investigated
independently by the Oregon Department
of Justice.
A report to the City Council from EPD
police Captain Chuck Tilby said the city
will give its top priority to opposing Senate
Bill 895, which seeks to increase the safety
and accountability of police officers heavily
armed and authorized to use deadly force.
The bill requires that an officer involved
in an incident in which the use of deadly
force caused serious physical injury be
tested for illegal drugs, including steroids.
In response to pressure from elected city
commissioners,
Portland
recently
renegotiated its police contract and plans
random tests for illegal drug and steroid use
for about two-thirds of its officers per year
beginning in July, according to Willamette
Week. The random tests, costing about $170
happening people
each, aren’t only required in officer involved
shootings. Steroids drew particular concern
because of their potential to cause dangerous
aggression in users.
Tilby wrote the council that Eugene
police don’t do random drug testing or
require testing after shootings. “This is an
option that is offered to employees, but
lacking reasonable ground to believe an
officer is taking such substances, the city
cannot mandate the test. Expect a large
negative reaction to this paragraph from
unions.” Tilby wrote, “mandating the tests
is not advisable and increases the city’s
costs for paying for such tests.”
Tilby also argued against a provision
requiring periodic psychological evaluations
to retain police certifications from the state.
“Psychological testing is not an exact
science,” Tilby wrote. “Mandating tests
would be costly and fraught with legal
problems.” Tilby also opposed a provision
requiring six mental health sessions for
officers involved in shootings. “Doesn’t
serve officers well, but serves mental health
professionals quite well,” he wrote.
Tilby called independent investigations
by the Department of Justice a “major
problem with this bill.” Right now the EPD
investigates itself with some help from the
district attorney and state police. Tilby
argued the bill “removes local control” and
the DOJ “will significantly reduce the
quality and timeliness of these critical
investigations.”
The police safety reform bill is sponsored
by the Senate Committee on General
Government, chaired by Rep. Chip Shields,
D-Portland. The bill was introduced in
February and moved on to other committees
last month.
The city and police are also lobbying
against Senate Bill 405 that would allow the
UO to replace expensive EPD officers with
a cheaper, unarmed, university police force.
In the past the UO has paid EPD about
$500,000 a year for policing.
Tilby argued that the university police
should get union benefits, PERS and other
BY PAUL NEEVEL
DOUG BALES
“It’s humbling to be part of a community
where there’s so much generosity,” says
Doug Bales, volunteer coordinator for the
Egan Warming Center. Named for retired
Major Tom Egan, a local homeless man
who died outdoors on a freezing night in
2008, the center provided 4,500 warm
beds and 9,000 meals at six locations to
an average of 250 guests on 21 cold
nights from November through March
this past winter. Bales grew up on a farm
in New Mexico, followed his two older
brothers into the Army, achieved the rank
of lieutenant and served for seven years.
He graduated from NM State, got a job as
a stockbroker, then relocated to Eugene in
1989. In addition to his work as a financial
advisor, he has lived in and renovated
several historic houses. After working as
a kitchen volunteer at the First Christian
Church in EWC’s first year, Bales was hired
by St. Vincent de Paul to coordinate the
program. “I had some ideas on
organizational development,” he says. “I
still work in the kitchen. It’s a blast.
Everyone loves it. We all share that feeling
of wanting to contribute.” A number of
local agencies and businesses, as well as
325 individual volunteers, contributed to
the center’s second season. Learn more
at eganwarmingcenter.com.
8
APRIL 14, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
benefits given to police officers. Not giving
the benefits is “good for universities, not
good
for
professional
standards
maintenance, recruiting, retention,” he
wrote.
Tilby argued that not requiring university
police to carry guns would be a “nightmare,”
because it would require other jurisdictions
to provide armed officers when needed. The
bill would be “absolving the university
system of the ultimate responsibility of
having employees exert deadly force,” he
wrote. The city supported another bill that
would require armed and expensive police
officers on campuses. — Alan Pittman
WILD HORSES
KILLED IN
HIGH DESERT
Wild horses roam Oregon’s eastside
high desert as well as, more unusually,
some of its forests. In March someone shot
and killed six of those horses in an area
about 20 miles outside Prineville. Three
were discovered last month: two stallions
and a pregnant mare whose yearling foal
was found nuzzling her, according to the
Humane Society of the United States,
which has offered a $2,500 reward for
information leading to the arrest and
conviction of the shooters.
On April 8 three more horses that had
been dead for some time were found,
bringing the total to six.
The horses were part of a small herd of
about 55 to 65 animals that roam in the Big
Summit Herd Management Area in the
Ochoco Mountains. A nonprofit group, the
Central Oregon Wild Horse Coalition,
which assists the BLM and the Forest
Service in conducting a yearly census of
the herd as well as with adoption events
and gentling clinics after the horses have
been gathered, has also offered a reward of
$1,000 for information on the shootings.
Pleasant Hill resident Gayle Hunt says
she formed the group, which has about 80
volunteers, to do things such as “building
networks of help for adopters and
promotional strategies that lift the wild
horses’ image from varmint to valued
resource.” The horses that were shot “were
well known to us,” Hunt says.
The Crook County Sheriff’s Office,
which found the animals while on patrol,
says the shooter could be charged with
aggravated animal abuse.
Wild horses in Oregon are found on
BLM, Forest Service and, in one case, Fish
and Wildlife managed lands. Forest
Service land horses like the Ochoco herd
are managed in cooperation with the BLM.
The BLM has announced a May 4
meeting at the Burns District Office to
discuss the use of helicopters in rounding
up Oregon’s herds. The BLM says it
gathers an average of 500 to 700 horses a
year from Oregon's public lands. The
BLM has also announced an effort to
establish “eco-sanctuaries” in the West on
private and public-private lands for horses
removed from public rangelands where
cattle are often grazed. The sanctuaries
would be potentially be used to promote
ecotourism, the BLM says.
The Crook County Sheriff’s Office is
investigating the Ochoco horse killings.
Anyone with information about the case is
asked to call the sheriff’s office at (541)
447-6398 or go to www.cowildhorse.org
for more info. — Camilla Mortensen
TAX DAY
ACTIVISM
Would you rather pay taxes for peace or
war? Local activists have organized a
parade and rally on April 16, the Saturday
before this year’s tax deadline of April 18.
Fashion Resistance to Militarism will be
modeling their outfits. Speakers will include
Jim Schmidt of Veterans for Peace outlining
the costs of war and two Spencer Butte
students speaking about climate as a
security issue.
The event runs from 11 am to 12:30 pm
Saturday at the Free Speech Plaza at 8th and
Oak. Sponsors are WAND, Community
Alliance of Lane County (CALC), Veterans
for Peace and Taxes for Peace Not War. For
more information contact Michael Carrigan
of CALC at 485-1755 or email calcpeace@
efn.org or oregonwand@oregonwand.org
Another tax day action is a “Taxes for
Peace Not War” rally at noon Monday,
April 18, at the Eugene downtown post
office. The day’s message is, “instead of
paying for endless war and cutting taxes for
the rich, Congress should fund education,
job creation, universal health care, and
other vital services,” according to
organizers. Sponsors include CALC,
Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network
(ESSN), WAND, Veterans for Peace, and
Taxes for Peace Not War. Music will be
provided by labor singer Mark Ross.
A traditional “penny poll” will be held
in front of the post office. Passersby will be
offered 10 pennies that they can put in jars
labeled with different government funding
choices. Last year Eugene penny poll
participants chose to give human resources
45 percent compared to 2 percent for the
military, and 1.5 percent for the Iraq/
Afghanistan wars. This is in sharp contrast
to the decision by the U.S. Congress last
year to give more than half our discretionary
tax dollars to the military.
Also Monday at the downtown post
office, US Uncut Eugene will host a rally
and march against corporate tax-dodgers
and unnecessary public service cuts at 3
pm. The rally is part of a nationwide action
in solidarity with hard-working, tax-paying
families. The rally will be followed by a
march to Bank of America on 11th Avenue
and back to the post office. For more
information, email uncuteugene@gmail.
com or look for “Eugene Uncut” on
Facebook.
The local Tea Party’s 912 Lane Group
is also planning a “Tax Day Rally to
Promote Patriotism, Fiscal Responsibility,
Limited Government, and Freedom!” from
5 to 7 pm Friday, April 15, at the old
federal building at 7th and Pearl. Art
Robinson, who is expected to run again
against Congressman Pete DeFazio in
2012, will be among the featured speakers.
Boy Scouts will sell hot dogs. Tea Partiers
will sell Tea shirts. Email teapartyeugene@
gmail.com for more information.
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